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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Fugitive for 13 Years Pleads Guilty

Dr.
Juan Rios Admits Engaging in Frauds

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States
Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on
September 18, 2012, Dr. Juan Rios, 65, who was extradited from Peru, pled
guilty in federal district court to one count of health care fraud, three
counts of mail fraud, and one count of failure to appear. Rios was first
indicted in December 1999. Additional charges were brought after Rios fled to
Peru shortly after his indictment, forfeiting a $350,000 in cash that he had
posted as bond on the original charges. At his sentencing, Rios faces up to 35
years of imprisonment and fines of up to $1.5 million, three years of mandatory
supervised release, and a special assessment of $500. Sentencing has been set
for January 4, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in United States District Court in East St.
Louis, Illinois.

In court today, Rios admitted fleeing
the United States after he was indicted. He acknowledged that, as a Southern Illinois
physician in the mid to late 1990s, he defrauded several insurance companies of
over $400,000. Rios, who had medical offices in Collinsville and Bethalto, also
admitted that he had submitted false bills for medical treatment and services
that were not provided to his patients, while at the same time fraudulently
receiving over $250,000 in personal disability payments.

The investigation was conducted by the
Southern Illinois Health Care Fraud Task Force, with the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Insurance Crime
Bureau, the U.S. Department of Human Services-Office of Inspector General, and
the Illinois State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorneys Ranley R. Killian and Michael J. Quinley.